Roar was commissioned by leading rug manufacturer, Jaipur Rugs, to transform a 780 sqm warehouse in Dubai’s creative district into its first showroom in the UAE. The conversion takes its cues from the history and culture of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan where Jaipur Rugs was established 45 years ago.

Every design starts with a story. Here the genesis was the city of Jaipur and its remarkable aesthetic. After our initial meeting with Jaipur Rugs, it soon became apparent that the company’s birthplace and home city was a tremendous and endless source of inspiration for them so it felt essential to also reference it in our interior design.”

We alluded to Jaipur’s most emblematic spaces in a playful, contemporary manner. A key component that kept returning in our research was the city's ponds – water has a special significance in Hindu mythology, believed to be a boundary between heaven and earth – for centuries, the stepped ponds have played a significant role in functioning as traditional water systems, as well as being hubs of social and cultural interactions. Transposed into an interior setting, this element brings a very special spacial experience for the visitor.

The showroom is separated into two main areas. On the ground floor, visitors enter a vast open-plan space, which features spectacular floor-to-ceiling rug displays evoking Jaipur’s stepwells on three of its walls. Embedded in the decor, Roar has imagined a series of niches entirely upholstered with carpets, with each alcove echoing the hues found on the adjacent stairs, forming an incredible colour gradient that presents the rugs as art pieces in their own right.

Alongside a string of ‘rug libraries’, which showcase products through custom-made sliding panels, three fully immersive rooms – the Sapphire, Emerald and Rubis rooms – have been dedicated to the brand’s acclaimed Manchaha collections, where visitors can admire rugs produced by Jaipur Rugs’ artisans as part of the company’s social enterprise initiative that gives weavers the creative freedom to design their own rugs.

Roar has kept the overall canvas of the space very neutral using a sleek warm-grey micro-cement and texture paint, combined with a dark-grey marble with hints of rose and blush tones. A subtle note of metallic rose-gold runs through the entire scheme – on door frames, signage, furniture, and lighting – drawing from Jaipur’s unmistakable colour prism. Large-scale suspended lights and sculptural, tactile furniture pieces from international design brands Norr11, Pedralli and B&T are essential elements in completing the sense of drama in this double-height space.

The lighting feature by Gabriel Chandelier resembles the beautiful jewels of Jaipur, adding a touch of sophisticated glamour to the space, and transforming it into a visually captivating experience. The sparkling and cascading effect created by the pendant lights evokes the allure of a radiant necklace adorned with exquisite gemstones.